. >> reporter: nearby john patricia says he was lucky. his house in the family for 52 years will only have to be gutted. >> unfortunately, that's just the way life is, you know. you have to accept it, and that's the end of it. >> reporter: elsewhere on the jersey shore, fires ignighted by natural gas leaks destroyed more than a dozen homes. in bayhead, first responders drove through the flooded streets in a frontend loader look for stranded residents. others put on hip waders to walk through town. some used canoes and kayaks. where it is safe to drive, there are long wait for gasoline. this line stretched more than a mile on the garden state parkw parkway. back here in long beach island, scott, people who lived along the beach beach here did evacuate. what they return, they will have to decide whether to build so close to the waves. >> pelley: well, can chip, how long will it be before those folks can get back into those homes to see what they've lost? >> reporter: well, scott, we're told by the mayor of long beach island that it's going